Oak Harvest Investment Services Acquires 18,131 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 32.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,131 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.4% of Oak Harvest Investment Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after buying an additional 701,740 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.18.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $102.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,017,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,739,068. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $104.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.00. The stock has a market cap of $178.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.